


SHUSH

by Indiprincess



Series: SHUSH [1]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awkwardness, Cooking, Dinner, Fluff, M/M, Nervousness, takeout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-02 19:31:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5260874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indiprincess/pseuds/Indiprincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Another stand alone I did with inspiration point from this week's episode.  17x08 Depravity Standard.  Not part of my Sonny/Reader series, just enjoying trying out other characters and situations.  I hope you enjoy.  Thank you for reading!</p>
    </blockquote>





	SHUSH

**Author's Note:**

> Another stand alone I did with inspiration point from this week's episode. 17x08 Depravity Standard. Not part of my Sonny/Reader series, just enjoying trying out other characters and situations. I hope you enjoy. Thank you for reading!

Rafael Barba made his way up the industrial set of stairs. By industrial he means sparse functionality, not modern aesthetic. His climb became slower the nearer he came to his destination. He stopped at the top of this last flight, this was the floor the was looking for. He told himself he was stopping to catch his breath, but it could be more than that. It could be that he was giving himself the opportunity to turn and leave. Take the out he had laid for himself by not calling first or asking, but simply turning up. He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing here. Maybe he was sure, and maybe he wasn't ready to think about that part just yet.

He wills himself to stop thinking so much. He thinks far too much some times, thinking being what he does for a living. Always having to be "at the ready", "on the ball", and "on his toes". The opponents he leveled on a daily basis on behalf of victims required it of him. An occupational hazard that he could scarcely turn off at times.

Tonight however, he didn't feel "at the ready", "on the ball", or "on his toes". Tonight, well this was a much more "play it by ear" night. But he did feel focused, now that he decided he would not tuck tail and run. He smoothed his camel colored coat one last time, and made sure the tassels were even on both sides of his Burberry scarf and gripped the bag in his hand slightly tighter.

He once again told himself that this was a good idea. If not "good", at least certainly not bad. If nothing was ventured, then nothing would be gained, ever. One last smooth of his scarf, and he takes a deep breath and knocks. After a very pregnant pause the door opens.

"Counselor? What are you doin' here?" Sonny asks, surprise in his voice. His confused furrowed brows eventually untangle and his squint turns to a smile. Before Rafael can even answer, Sonny offers him a warm "Come in come in" with an enthusiastic wave of his hand. He hurriedly kicks a damp towel out of the way, closes his textbooks and stacks them on the coffee table and after looking around sets his empty pizza box on top. He clears away his empty beer bottles and tries to calm himself and play this off lightly. He wished he had known Barba wanted to stop by so he could have taken his garbage out and ran a vacuum and picked up his dirty towels. Maybe done his dishes. He wipes his sweating hands on his faded jeans and tugs unconsciously at the collar of his Henley.

Barba, always so fashion conscious can't help but note that the blue Henley really makes his eyes pop. Have they always been that blue? Of course they have. Relax Rafael. "How's Rollins?" He asks, avoiding Sonny's question.

Sonny crosses his arms over his chest. "She's good. She's good. They got her stable and resting. She's gonna have a C-section tomorrow. So new squad baby soon!" Sonny says excitedly, gesturing with his hands while he speaks like he always does, unable to keep his arms crossed for more than a moment.

Barba notices that and laughs to himself. Tie his hands behind his back and he wouldn't be able to speak he thinks. He reddens at the thought and suddenly feels warm. He pulls himself back to the now. "I'm glad to hear it. She gave everyone quite a scare." Barba says, genuinely relieved that Rollins is doing okay now.

"Yeah she did. Yeah she did." Sonny nods, and tries again. "So, what can I do for you counselor?" He takes a step closer to Rafael. "Did you come by to ask about Rollins?" Sonny asks casually.

Barba thinks he hears more in that question than the words Carisi asked, but he's not sure if it's his imagination. He feels thrown off his game by that step toward him Sonny had taken. His already small studio, not much bigger, if at all, than Barba's office, was already an intimate space and the step toward him had made it that much more so. Barba was always quite confident, but Sonny Carisi had thrown him for a loop since day one and that one little step had him feeling unbalanced. Sonny shifts and stands with one leg kicked out in his signature stance and that snaps Barba from his inner thoughts once again. He was too much in his head tonight, right now. Be here, he reminds himself. "Well Carisi, I wanted to show you my appreciation for all your help this week..." Rafael begins.

Sonny waves him off with a kind, genuine smile and a shrug. "Nah, I didn't do all that much. Remember counselor, shadows do not speak, they don't have opinions, remember?"

Barba returns Sonny's genuine smile in kind. "Well that's true Carisi, but you were an excellent shadow, and you did catch Hoda's "little boys" tell, and probably much more if I let you be more than 'arm candy' as Lisa Hassler put it." Rafael begins with a smile, then he begins feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable with the compliment, as brief and genuine and professional as it is. "Anyway, I know you've been busy with work, school, and looking out for Rollins so I thought I would take a page from your playbook so to speak and drop off dinner for you." Barba holds the bag out to Sonny who doesn't make a move to take it, at first. It takes Barba only seconds to start to feel ridiculous. Maybe he should have taken flight back down Carisi's staircase when he reached the top. "Look, if you've already eaten..." Barba tries again, wanting Sonny to take the damn bag so he can just get out of here. This was a dumb idea.

Sonny's turn to snap to. He hurriedly takes the bag and recovers with his signature grin. "Thanks counselor. I didn't eat yet. Thanks a lot for this." Sonny is touched more than he hopes to be showing. _This is nothing, a bag of lukewarm takeout Barba grabbed on his way home_. He tells himself. Only it's so much more than nothing. **_This is a bag of lukewarm takeout Barba grabbed on his way home_**. _He stopped to bring it to me, thinking of me,_ Sonny thinks. _To thank me_. With all the times Sonny had done this for others that he worked with, not one had done it for him. And here was Barba, whom he wanted to impress so badly, and whose approval he craved so much, after a rough day in court, and a candlelight vigil with a mother who still mourns in a heartbroken community, he'd thought of Sonny and stopped to grab him something to eat. Sonny's favorite way to show someone he cared.

Barba sees something unreadable pass over Sonny's face. "What?" Barba asks.

"Nothing counselor. This is real, real nice. Thank you again." Sonny smiles and sets the bag on the counter.

"Carisi, what is it? Why do you look..." Barba makes a circular motion with his finger around Sonny's face. "like that."

Sonny can no longer contain his laugh. "It's really nothin' counselor, but come on, Olive Garden?" Sonny asks. "I thought we knew each other better than that, and I thought you knew food better than that." Sonny teases gently, forgetting himself for a moment, basking in the approval of this person who he admired professionally so much, and that he had thought enough of him to bring him something to eat, even if it was Olive Garden.

"What? Olive Garden is Italian." Barba says, looking affronted. "I do know good food. I just don't have the chef of every Italian restaurant on speed dial and my own Yelp account like some people to find out which is the best. Olive Garden I mean is pretty universal..." Rafael's nerves are carrying him away. This really wasn't such a good idea.

The quick touch of Sonny's hand, lasting not even a full second, on his own stops him mid-rant. "Barba, come on. I know you know good food. And this is real nice. I'm just giving you a hard time." Sonny leans in and smirks "You know, like you gave me for a whole year, and you still do every now and then."

That relaxes Barba. "Fair enough. You do have a point." He ponders apologizing to Carisi for his behavior last year, but Carisi once again interrupts his thoughts. There will be time for that anyway. No need to toss it all at him tonight. And Sonny, with that good heart of his, was not one to hold a grudge anyway, but Rafael will apologize, he makes a note to himself to do that in the near future, but just keep tonight light.

"Hey counselor, did you eat already?" Sonny asks. Rafael feels himself pinken under Sonny's direct questioning and gaze. He opens his mouth to answer, shuts his eyes, and shakes his head.

"Great!" Sonny says excitedly, and gives Rafael's chest a light tap with the back of his hand. Barba notes that was the exact same way Sonny had touched him outside the courtroom before going into the Hoda motion. "That's great. Have a seat, let me make you some real food." Before Barba can even answer, Sonny is in the kitchen portion of his studio apartment, pulling out pans. "Now this isn't Italian, I took a steak out of my freezer this morning, but I've got enough to share." He tosses over his shoulder as he pulls out two potatoes.  "You like wine? I've got a new bottle of burgundy." Sonny hopes Rafael didn't hear him take that deep breath. He's trying to calm down. He feels himself getting carried away in his excitement and tries to dial it back a notch. He doesn't want to scare the man off.

"Uh burgundy would be great Carisi, thank you." Barba says dryly. Grateful that Carisi had settled down some. Instead of sitting on the couch, he pulls out a stool at the tiny kitchen island and gestures toward it. "Do you mind?" Barba asks.

"Not at all." Sonny grins, he's excited to get to show off yet another skill for the person he wants most to impress.

Rafael watches as Sonny sets to work. His intensity in the kitchen was not what he would have expected from Carisi. He's quick and quiet and meticulous. The smells in this tiny apartment are amazing. _**Amazing**_. Barba is grateful for the intensity Sonny shows while cooking, as it means they don't have to carry on a conversation but can sit in a comfortable silence, and he can just relax and watch this master at work. Pulling different bottles of spices and spinach and cream from his refrigerator and garlic, and set to work with such focus, it really is a pleasure to watch. Watching those blue eyes focus so intently, watching the curls form as the heat and humidity hit him while he worked, occasionally wiping his face on the sleeve of that Henley.

As Sonny carries the plates to the table, he prays to every saint he has ever heard of that Barba enjoys this meal. He sets the plate down in front of him and tops off his wine, says grace, and they dig in.

Harvard educated, successful ADA Rafael Barba was unable to stifle the moan and string of Spanish that escaped his lips, made unintelligible by the mouth full of Carisi's delectable cooking.  Nor was he able to keep his eyes from rolling back in their sockets. "Carisi, this is heaven!" He exclaims with more fervor than he meant to.

Sonny hadn't realized how hard he had been gripping his fork, waiting for Barba's reaction. When he heard that moan, he earmarked the extra twenty in his wallet for the offering plate at mass on Sunday. "Glad you like it counselor." Sonny grinned and began digging into his own plate finally.

"I mean it Carisi, this is as good as any steakhouse, hands down." Barba wants him to know how genuine he means that as he devours his creamed spinach.

"Is it even better than the Olive Garden?" Sonny cannot help himself.

"Better than Fazoli's even." Barba deadpans back and Sonny laughs, just the reaction each had wanted from the other.

They are both fast eaters and dinner takes no time. Even so, they make pleasant small talk about Carisi's new niece, Rollins, Mini Dodds, Liv and Noah. They stay away from the heavier and harder topics, such as the candlelight vigil, Rollins' scare this afternoon, and the Hoda motion. Sonny collects the plates, and Barba offers to do the dishes.

Again, Sonny waves him off. "Nah, dishwasher." He gestures with his thumb over his shoulder to the dishwasher behind him. Barba glances at the time on the microwave. It's much later than he anticipated it to be.

"I'd better head out." Barba says, grabbing his coat from the arm of Sonny's loveseat and heads toward the door. His head is already in motion thinking of the paperwork and depositions he'll need to do for the next phase of this Hoda trial. Maybe he could bum Carisi off of Liv when the time comes. "Thank you for dinner." Barba says and stops, freezing, coat on midway and turns around. "I was supposed to be dropping off dinner for you, and here you ended up cooking for me. I wanted to do something nice for you and you still end up taking care of people." Barba finishes putting on his coat to avoid his eyes, he decides to go for it. To do what he came here to do. Now or never. "Perhaps we could try this again sometime? I could take you to a real restaurant?" That second sentence comes out as a question. Barba feels like he's waiting far too long for an answer, and the courage he felt moments ago slips from him like air escaping a balloon, he feels just as deflated, and decideds to hurry the hell up and get out of here. "Of course, if you aren't interested, it's fine..." Let the backpedaling begin. "I can just get you a gift card to that coffee place you like. No pressure. I'll grab the gift card, I'll just do that." A gift card? Really? "What's that place you like..."

"SHUSH." Sonny stops him and steps close to Barba they are only inches apart. "You askin' me out counselor? On a date? Like a date date?"

Barba curses himself as he feels heat escaping from his collar. If Carisi finds out he can make him blush Barba will never hear the end of it. He takes a long hard moment to think about the answer he wants to give. To say no, life in respect to their relationship, could go on just as it always had. Uncomplicated banter, no delving below surface of anything, keeping it simply professional. But, if he said yes, and Carisi said yes, what possiblites lie beyond that? Would they be worth the trouble? He wanted to find out. "Indeed I am." He jams his hands into the pockets of his camel coat and offers Sonny a tight smile. "What do you say?"

Sonny's smile threatens to swallow his face. He can't believe how this day has turned out. If you had asked him this morning, he never would have guessed this in a thousand years. He can't remember the last time his heart felt this thrill. Then he remembers Barba waiting for his answer. "I say...  what took you so long?" he says, and Barba laughs. "I say meet me at Pangione's at 9 on Friday counselor." Sonny's unsure if it's the wine, or the way that the evening played out, but he suddenly feels bold. Bolder than he's ever felt around Barba before. "You'll taste something that puts the Olive Garden to shame, I promise counselor." Sonny immediately feels his face burn at his forwardness.

Barba stares at Sonny's full lipped pout and licks his lips unconsciously, imagining the taste and feel of Sonny's full pink lips on his. He turns and starts off towards the stairs, his broad smile hidden from this vantage point. Playing it cool, he calls out without looking back "I'm going to hold you to that detective."


End file.
